Finally there is a new edition of the NGS ATlas, weighing 7 pounds (3+ kilos)!An atlas is the most useful book you can have or give to others. It has so much information about other countries, cultures and will make you more aware about the world around you.

Read more about the changes (Everest is now officially higher) and facts about the book in this AP news article:

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What's the link between space ports and East Timor? Both are listed in the updated National Geographic Atlas Of The World

MAPS have played a vital role throughout human history - from lines scratched in ancient dirt to Mediaeval charts with drawings of monsters in unknown parts of the ocean to modern computer printouts.

Now, one of the most venerable US mapmakers, the National Geographic Society, is updating its massive Atlas Of The World.

'We live in an international age,' Mr Allen Carroll, chief cartographer for the society, said. He added that Americans have a responsibility to understand the world around them.

The eighth edition of the classic volume goes on sale today, featuring more than 15,000 changes and updates from the last version.

So, what's new?

Well, the Earth's highest point is higher: More accurate measurements of Mount Everest show a height of 8,850m, up 2.1m from previous measurements.

And the lowest point is lower: The Dead Sea is now listed at minus 409 m, down 16.2m because of increased water consumption in the region.

There's a new nation, the first in this century: East Timor.

Other changes include showing the locations of space ports for the first time, a newly-defined boundary between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, new administrative divisions in Slovakia and Czech Republic. There are also updated shorelines for Lake Chad and the Aral Sea, glacier movement in polar areas and the renaming of Calcutta, India to Kolkata.

It's a hefty book - 416 pages and weighs 3.1kg - with a price to match, US$165 ($278).

But it's also more than just a book. The atlas includes access to the society's online atlas Internet site, providing updates that can be printed, and access to more detailed maps and views of places around the world.

Amazon.com has this great thing (called "Share the Love") that if you buy a book, you can have all your friends buy the same book with 10% extra off if they buy it within a week! And even better, I get 10% as well, so everybody profits (except the publisher